Shenandoah's New Coin

Front Royal is bracing for a crowd Friday morning, as the Shenandoah National Park prepares to unveil its very own quarter. Coin collectors from around the country are expected, along with locals who love the park.

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Sandy Hausman reports.

As part of its America the Beautiful program, the U.S. mint is rolling out a series of quarters – five new designs a year -- honoring each of 56 national parks. Twenty-two have been issued so far, and next on the list is Shenandoah. Deputy Park Superintendent Jennifer Flynn describes the coin that will be unveiled at 10 a.m. Friday at Skyline High School in Front Royal.

“The quarter features a rock outcrop in the park with a day hiker standing at the top of the rocks, looking out into the valley.”

Flynn says the quarters will go on sale immediately, allowing each person at the event to buy up to $100 worth.

“There’s a group of collectors who come to all of these events, but I think because of Shenandoah’s special relationship with our communities, we expect there to be a lot of folks from our area who will want this special quarter just because it’s about our park.”

The coins will be produced for about ten weeks, depending on demand, so a limited number will be sold in Front Royal, in park stores and online. The mint recently wrapped up production of more than 172 million quarters honoring the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.